Black Volga

The "Black Volga" is an urban legend, most commonly associated with the Soviet Union and typically endemic to Eastern European countries such as Poland and Ukraine, among others.

History

Anna Kirzyuk posited that three separate Black-Volga-type narratives existed, which she referred to as Черная «Волга»–I, Черная «Волга»–II, and Черная «Волга»–III ("Black Volga" I, "Black Volga" II, and "Black Volga" III), with the first such legend associated with 1950s and 1960s narratives and the second, more popular, version associated with 1970s and 1980s narratives.

Kirzyuk compares the three narratives using geography, the kind of car involved, the "threat agent's" identity and purpose, and the general victim type (Table 1).

Table 1. Kirzyuk's classification of "Black Volga" legends.
Legend	Location(s)	Car(s) Involved	"Threat Agent"	Threat Poised	Victim Type
"Black Volga" I	USSR (Moscow)	Black VMS	Head of the secret police	Rape	Girls, women
"Black Volga" II	USSR	Black Volga, Any black car	Ill-defined	Ill-defined	Children
"Black Volga" III	Poland, Estonia, USSR	Black Volga, Any black car, Any foreign car, Any car	KGB officers, Jews, Foreigners, Priests, Doctors, Spies	Organ theft, Murder, etc.	Children, Young people

1950s

1960s

1970s

The 1970s marked the rise of Kirzyuk's second narrative, itself marked by the uncertainty of the vehicle's "threat agent."

1980s

According to a poll entitled "Опасные советские вещи"^[1], knowledge of the "Black Volga" legend was noted by 22% of respondents. Those born in the 1940s and 1950s seemed to have no recollection of the legend; 13% of those born in the 1960s remembered it; 24% of those born in the 1970s remembered it; and 32% of those born in the 1980s remembered it. It has been therefore posited that the "peak" of the legend's popularity occurred in the second half of the 1980s.

Notes

↑ Translated as "Dangerous Soviet Things."

External Links

References

Kirzyuk, Anna. "Три Черных «Волги»: Молчание и Страх в Советских Городских Легендах." Новое Литературное Обозрение, vol. 143, Jan. 2017. (Translated as "Three Black 'Volga': Silence and Fear in Soviet Urban Legends." Printed in New Literary Review)

[1] Translated as "Dangerous Soviet Things."

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